Mail::...dentity(3pm)

📦
version 4.02 · 9 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

💖 NAME 💖

Hiiii bestie, you've landed on Mail::...dentity(3pm), direct from the User Contributed Perl Documentation shelf ✨. And what is this page about? Only Mail::Box::Identity — the module that represents an unopened folder 🎀. Not an opened folder. Not a folder you peeked inside. Just the identity of one. Lowkey iconic, honestly.

🧬 INHERITANCE 🧬

The family tree, and she has two parents:

  Mail::Box::Identity
    is a User::Identity::Item

  Mail::Box::Identity
    is a Mail::Reporter

Two whole lineages. Very main character energy 👑.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

The vibe, in code:

  use User::Identity;
  use Mail::Box::Identity;
  my $me   = User::Identity->new(...);

  my $mailbox = Mail::Box::Identity->new(...);
  $me->add(folders => $mailbox);

  # Simpler

  use User::Identity;
  my $me   = User::Identity->new(...);
  my $addr = $me->add(folders => ...);

See that? You can build the mailbox yourself and add it, or just let the simpler path do all the work for you 🫶.

📖 DESCRIPTION 📖

So, Mail::Box::Identity holds the description of a single mailbox 💌. All these mailboxes get collected together by an Mail::Box::Collection object. And bestie, this is exactly the same deal as IMAP's \NoSelect, for instance 👀.

Also, nearly all methods can return undef — so like, always vibe check your return value, fr fr 😭.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "DESCRIPTION" in User::Identity::Item.

🛠️ METHODS 🛠️

Extends "METHODS" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "METHODS" in User::Identity::Item.

🏗️ Constructors 🏗️

Extends "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "Constructors" in User::Identity::Item.

$class->new( [$name], %options )

Inherited — see "Constructors" in Mail::Reporter ✨.

Heres the whole option menu, every single one, no skips 💅:

  • deleted — default: <C<false>>
    • deleted => BOOLEAN — The folder is flagged for deletion. This doesn't have any implications yet, because it may still get undeleted 🙈.
  • description — Defined in User::Identity::Item — default: undef
    • description => STRING
  • folder_type — default: from parent
    • folder_type => CLASS
  • inferiors — default: 1
    • inferiors => BOOLEAN — Can this folder have children? If not, this is cleared 🧚.
  • location — default: undef
    • location => $directory|$file — The location of this folder. Often, only the manager can figure-out where this folder really is 🔍.
  • manager — default: <from parent>
    • manager => $object — Any Mail::Box::Manager or Mail::Box::Manage::User $object.
  • marked — default: undef
    • marked => 0|1|undef — Whether the folder is flagged for some reason, for instance because new messages have arrived ⭐.
  • name — Defined in User::Identity::Item — default: <required>
    • name => STRING
  • only_subs — default: <foldertype and name dependent>
    • only_subs => BOOLEAN — Some folder types can have messages in their toplevel folder, other cannot. That determines the default. See Mail::Box::topFolderWithMessages() 👑.
  • parent — Defined in User::Identity::Item — default: undef
    • parent => OBJECT
  • subf_type — default: <same as parent>
    • subf_type => $class — The type for a subfolder collection, must extend class Mail::Box::Collection 💜.

🎀 Attributes 🎀

Extends "Attributes" in Mail::Reporter.

Extends "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item.

  • $obj->deleted( [BOOLEAN] )
  • $obj->description() — Inherited, see "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->folderType() — Returns the type of this folder 🌸.
  • $obj->fullname( [$delimeter] ) — Returns the name of the folder, from the toplevel until this one, with the $delimeter string between each level. $delimeter default to a forward slash (a "/") 🦋.
  • $obj->inferiors( [BOOLEAN] ) — "Inferiors" are "subfolders". When this flag is set, it is permitted to create subfolders ✨.
  • $obj->location( [$filename|$directory|undef] ) — Returns the directory or filename of the folder. If this is not pre-defined, it is computed based on the knowledge about the folder type. Be sure to set the location of the toplevel folder to the folderdir of the user to get this to work 👀.
  • $obj->manager() — Returns the manager (usually a Mail::Box::Manage::User which owns the folders. May be undefined, by default from parent 💅.
  • $obj->marked( [BOOLEAN|undef] ) — When something special has happened with the folder, this flag can be set (or cleared). The undef status is an "unknown". In the IMAP4 protocol, 0 will result in a \Unmarked, a 1 results in a \Marked, and undef in nothing 😭.
  • $obj->name( [$newname] ) — Inherited, see "Attributes" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->onlySubfolders( [BOOLEAN] ) — Than this folder be opened (without trying) or not? The default depends on the folder type, and whether this is the toplevel folder or not. See Mail::Box::topFolderWithMessages() 🔥.
  • $obj->topfolder() — Run up the tree to find the highest level folder 🧗♀️.

🗂️ Collections 🗂️

Extends "Collections" in User::Identity::Item.

  • $obj->add($collection, $role) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->addCollection( $object | <[$type], %options> ) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->collection($name) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->parent( [$parent] ) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->removeCollection($object|$name) — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
  • $any->type() — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item
  • $obj->user() — Inherited, see "Collections" in User::Identity::Item

🔎 Searching 🔎

Extends "Searching" in User::Identity::Item.

  • $obj->find($collection, $role) — Inherited, see "Searching" in User::Identity::Item

🚨 Error handling 🚨

Extends "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter.

  • $obj->AUTOLOAD() — Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter
  • $obj->notImplemented() — Inherited, see "Error handling" in Mail::Reporter

🧹 Cleanup 🧹

Extends "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter.

  • $obj->DESTROY() — Inherited, see "Cleanup" in Mail::Reporter

📁 Subfolders 📁

  • $obj->addSubfolder(Mail::Box::Identity-object|$data) — Add a new folder into the administration. With $data, a new object will be instantiated first. The identity is returned on success 🫶.
  • $obj->folder( [..., $name] ) — Returns the subfolder's object with $name or undef if it does not exist. When multiple NAME's are added, those super folders are traverst first. Without any $name, the current object is returned 💖.
» example: get some folder
  my $a = $user->folders->folder('b', 'a');

  my $name  = "a:b:c";
  my $delim = ":";
  my $f = $user->folders->folder(split $delim, $name);
  • $obj->foreach(CODE) — For each of the subfolders found below this point call CODE. This current folder is called first. Be warned that you may find identities with the deleted() flag on ⚠️.
  • $obj->open(%options) — Open the folder which is described by this identity. Returned is some Mail::Box. The options are passed to Mail::Box::Manager::open() 🔓.
  • $obj->remove( [$name] ) — Remove the folder (plus subfolders) with the $name. Without $name, this Mail::Box::Identity itself is removed.

The removed structure is returned, which is undef if not found. This is only an administrative remove, you still need a Mail::Box::Manager::delete() 💀.

  • $obj->rename( $folder, [$newsubname] ) — Move the folder to a different super-$folder, under a NEW SUBfolder NAME ✨.
» example: renaming a folder
  my $top = $user->topfolder;
  my $new = $top->folder('xyz') or die;
  my $f   = $top->folder('abc', 'def')->rename($new, '123');

  print $f->name;      # 123
  print $f->fullname;  # =/xyz/123
  • $obj->subfolderNames() — Convenience method: returns the names of the collected subfolders 🎀.
  • $obj->subfolders() — Returns the subfolders or undef if there are none. This information is lazy evaluated and cached. In LIST context, the folder objects are returned (Mail::Box::Identity objects), in SCALAR context the collection, the Mail::Box::Collection 🦋.

🩺 DIAGNOSTICS 🩺

  • Error: cannot load collection module for $type ($class): $@ Either the specified $type does not exist, or that module named $class returns compilation errors. If the type as specified in the warning is not the name of a package, you specified a nickname which was not defined. Maybe you forgot the 'require' the package which defines the nickname 😭. Cast by addCollection()
  • Error: class $package does not implement method $method. Fatal error: the specific $package (or one of its superclasses) does not implement this method where it should. This message means that some other related classes do implement this method however the class at hand does not. Probably you should investigate this and probably inform the author of the package 👀. Cast by notImplemented()
  • Error: invalid collection $name. The collection with $name does not exist and can not be created 💀. Cast by add()
  • Error: it is not permitted to add subfolders to $folder. The inferiors() flag prohibits the creation of subfolders to this folder 🚫. Cast by addSubfolder()
  • Error: the toplevel folder cannot be removed this way The Mail::Box::Identity folder administration structure requires a top directory. That top is registered somewhere (for instance by a Mail::Box::Manage::User). If you need to remove the top, you have to look for a method of that object 🧐. Cast by remove()
  • Error: this $object is not a collection. Cast by addCollection()
  • Error: toplevel directory requires explicit folder type. Cast by folderType()
  • Error: toplevel directory requires explicit location. Cast by location()

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

This module is part of Mail-Box version 4.02, built on April 10, 2026 ⭐.

Website: http://perl.overmeer.net/CPAN/ 🌈

📜 LICENSE 📜

For contributors see file ChangeLog.

This software is copyright (c) 2001-2026 by Mark Overmeer 👑.

This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself 💜.

and that's a wrap bestie 🎀✨ this page rode in on perl v5.40.1 and got dated 2026-05-09, so go forth, manage those unopened folders, and slay 💅🦋

📦 where this page comes from